


Cold Comfort

by GenericAuthorName



Category: Vocaloid
Genre: Family Fluff, Gen, Haircuts, Happy Ending, Ice Cream, Non-Consensual Haircuts, POV Third Person, Sexism, Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-11-29 13:32:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18223805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GenericAuthorName/pseuds/GenericAuthorName
Summary: Len absolutely hated one middle school dress code rule.





	Cold Comfort

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Cold Comfort 日本語](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18224222) by [GenericAuthorName](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GenericAuthorName/pseuds/GenericAuthorName). 



Boys with earrings? Whatever.

Boys who paint their nails? Whatever.

Boys with tattoos? If it’s not gang related or something like a swastika, whatever.

Boys with long hair? Unacceptable.

Len has all those characteristics. Len wore an earring in both ears. He had “02” tattooed on his left shoulder in square red characters. Technically Rin painted Len’s nails, but Len’s nails were still painted yellow nonetheless. And Len kept his shoulder length blonde hair in a little ponytail.

“Boy students may not have long hair and must cut their hair above the ears and collar," the dress code says, and Len’s shoulder length hair certainly violates that rule. Len’s earrings, painted fingernails, tattoo are all OK, but his long hair is unacceptable.

But Len likes his hair long; he likes the little ponytail bouncing around his head. He likes letting the ponytail down in the winter to warm his ears and neck when it’s cold, and he likes matching with Rin, his twin sister. But after a haircut, no more ponytail, no more warm ears and neck, and no more matching with Rin.

Handing Len 40 dollars, Len’s mom said, “Len, I know you like your hair long, but I didn’t make the dress code. You can get your haircut anywhere and keep the change.”

Len put the money in his wallet, and Rin and Len left together, on their bikes. The barbershop Len and Rin went to wasn’t the closest one to home, but it did have a soft serve ice cream parlor next to it. Len thought an ice cream after the haircut would make him feel a little better.

* * *

 “Howdy” the barber said, “Who’s going first?”.

“I am.” Len said, as Rin sat on the couch in the waiting area.

“Alright, go ahead and take a seat in the barber chair.” the barber said. Once Len sat in the chair, the barber asked, “What haircut would you like?”

“Well, school starts on Monday and according to the dress code, it has to be short.” Len answered.

“I see, it has to be short. Do you have a specific cut in mind?” the barber asked, while wrapping a strip of tissue paper around Len’s neck.

“Well, until now, I’ve always had long hair so I don’t really know short haircuts but I want to still be able to style my hair.” Len said, while the barber put a barber’s cape on him.

While taking out Len's ponytail, the barber said “I see. How about cut the back and sides short with clippers, and cut the top to finger length with scissors? You’ll be able to style it a lot of different ways.”

“Sure, I guess.” Len said.

The barber picked up the clipper with his left hand, snapped on a guard, then picked up his comb with his right hand. He lifted the hair in front of Len’s ear in the teeth of his comb, turned on the clipper and as it buzzed, he asked “Ready?”

Len closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, “yeah.”

The barber quickly cut the back and sides of Len’s hair very short with the clippers. After two quick passes, the back and sides did not touch Len’s ears or neck at all anymore, and the barber turned off clippers and picked up his shears. To make the haircut easier, the barber and quickly chopped off about three quarters of the length up top. After wetting Len’s hair by spraying it with water, the barber started cutting Len’s hair again, with a technique called “scissor over comb”; combing up little sections of hair, cutting off what stuck out past the teeth of the comb, flicking away the severed hair, and then repeating the process on another bit of hair; comb, snip snip snip, comb, snip snip snip. . . . When the cutting finished, though the top was a little longer than the back and sides, it was also short; most of Len’s hair was now in a pile on the floor.

The barber took the cape and tissue paper off Len, and had him tilt his head forward. He smeared shaving cream around Len’s ears and on the back of his neck, then shaved them. He dried Len's hair with a towel, then rubbed in a bit of styling gel to spike up the front. When the barber said “it’s done.”, Len finally opened his eyes and saw his new hair in the mirror.

It was too short to be tied into the smallest ponytail. It wouldn’t warm his ears or neck at all when the weather got cold. It doesn’t look at all like Rin’s shoulder length hair. Although Len already hated his new haircut and wanted his long hair back, Len paid the barber his 15 dollars and said "thank you". It was the school, not the barber, that made Len cut his hair like this, so getting mad at the barber wouldn’t make much sense.

Len got out of the chair, and asked Rin “Ready?”

Rin nodded and got up from the couch. Though instead of heading to the door, she sat in the barber chair. The barber asked her “You want a haircut too?”

“Yep.” Rin said, without fear, “Just like my brother, please.”

“You sure?” The barber said.

“Yep. I’m completely sure.” Rin said.

The barber shrugged, raised the chair up, wrapped a strip and the cape around Rin’s neck, took her bow off, and cut Rin’s hair exactly like Len’s; the same clipped back and sides, the same top cut down to finger length by scissor over comb, the same shave on the back of her neck, sideburns and around her ears, and the same spike at the very front. During Len’s haircut, he closed his eyes, but during Rin’s haircut, Rin didn’t close hers. When the barber said “finished”, Rin and Len had the same hair again.

“ _I guess we still match,_ ” Len thought, as Rin got up from the barber’s chair.

“Len, let’s get our ice cream.” Rin said.

* * *

Len bought two large swirl cones, one for himself, and one for Rin. They sat down at a table and while eating their ice cream, Len asked “Rin, why did you cut your hair too?”

“Because it wasn’t fair.” Rin said, “If the school makes you cut you hair, then I will cut mine too. We have to match, and the rules don’t say girls can’t cut their hair.”

“Yeah, we do have to match. Thanks” Len agreed.

“No problem.” Rin said. By the way, do you like your new hair?

“I hate it. it’s too short.” Len said. “How about you?”

“I like a little” Rin said, “It’s kinda soft.”

“Yeah, but what about when it gets cold?” Len asked.

“Wear a beanie?”” Rin answered.

“Yeah, but I can’t tie my beanie in a ponytail.” Len said

“Yeah, I guess nothing can be done about that.” Rin said

* * *

 “Mom! Dad! We’re home.” Len called out.

“Yeah.” their parents called back, “Let’s see the new haircut.”

The parents saw Len first. “Nice haircut.” Mom said, and Dad said, “Looks good."

“I think it’s a bit short. . . .” Len said, while rubbing the back of his head.

“Len, don’t sulk.” Rin said, while rubbing the back of her head. “It’s not that bad.”

“Wait” Mom said, “Rin cut her hair too?”

“Yep.” Rin said. “Just like Len.”

Dad chuckled a bit, _of course Rin cut her’s._ “I guess the twins still match."

* * *

For three years, Rin and Len had that same short haircut. Len never liked it. On the first Saturday of every month, their parents gave them $35, the twins would go on their bikes to the barbershop and have ice cream after. Except during the summer break; no school so no dress code, so Len doesn’t have to cut his hair short, so he didn’t. Although Rin and Len’s hair grew somewhat fast, it was still too short to be tied in a ponytail at the end of summer break, and Len had to cut it again just before school started.

Rin liked to rub Len’s short hair. She always rubbed it a little right after Len’s haircut, when it was “really soft”. Rin and Len always slept together, and would usually have a hand in each other’s hair while sleeping. Except for Rin and the barber cutting it, Len didn’t let anyone touch his short hair.

After graduating middle school, Rin and Len would go to high school. The high school’s dress code didn’t make boys cut their hair short, so Len could finally grow his long hair back. Middle school ended in May, and at the end of October, Len had his ponytail again.


End file.
